By Jarrett Renshaw
Sept 18 (Reuters) - The US and China are discussing a plan to reduce or eliminate China's tariffs on American LNG as part of a broader package of energy and agriculture agreements that could be announced when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Washington next week, according to two people briefed on the discussions.
The potential relief on US exports of liquefied natural gas is being discussed alongside a broader framework under which the US and China would each cut tariffs on about
$30 billion of goods, the people said.
China imposed a 15% tariff on US LNG in February 2025 in retaliation for President Donald Trump's duties on Chinese goods. That effectively halted the US-China LNG trade, with the last significant cargoes arriving early that year.
American LNG producers are seeking new markets to absorb a wave of new export capacity being built along the US Gulf Coast, with years of trade tensions with China having made one of the world's biggest LNG markets less accessible.
The discussions are part of efforts to stabilize trade ties ahead of a September 24 meeting between Trump and Xi and are not final, the people said. Neither the White House nor the Chinese embassy in Washington responded to requests for comment.
The American LNG industry is entering a major expansion phase, with export capacity set to grow by roughly 10 billion cubic feet per day through 2027 as new and expanded facilities ramp up, with projects involving Cheniere Energy, Venture Global, Sempra, NextDecade and Exxon Mobil among those adding capacity.
The return of Chinese buyers would give US producers another major destination for their gas just as geopolitical upheaval is reshaping global energy flows, potentially helping underpin demand for projects now under construction and those seeking financing and long-term customers.
Of the almost 100 million metric tons of LNG capacity under construction in the US, 24.5 million metric tons have not yet been contracted to long-term customers, according to industry estimates and Reuters analysis.
GLOBAL LNG FLOWS
After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine disrupted Europe's access to Russian pipeline gas, US LNG cargoes that might otherwise have gone to Asia were increasingly drawn to Europe.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East between the US and Iran, meanwhile, has created another shift in global energy flows, with disruptions to supplies increasing competition for LNG cargoes in Asia.
China is the world's largest LNG importer and the US is the world's largest LNG exporter, giving the two countries an economic incentive to restore a trade relationship that was rapidly expanding before the tariff dispute.
US LNG exports to China fell from 64 vessels in 2024 to effectively zero in 2025 after Beijing imposed the tariff, according to US government data.
In 2021, the number had reached a record 131 vessels, reflecting the rapid growth of the US LNG trade with China after large-scale exports from the Lower 48 states began in 2016.
US LNG shipments to China fell to just two vessels in 2019 during Trump's first-term trade dispute with Beijing, before rebounding sharply in 2020 and 2021.
In recent months, several US cargoes that left Gulf Coast export terminals have arrived in China or are headed there, according to LSEG shipping data, suggesting Chinese buyers had started to return to the US market even as the tariff remained in place.
US LNG exports averaged 17.4 bcf/d in the first half of 2026, up 23% from a year earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration.
(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Scott DiSavino and Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Nia Williams)
